- 25 Jan 2023 - 20:34(20:34 GMT)
Russia ‘intensifying’ Donetsk battle, ‘superior’ in numbers: Kyiv
Ukraine has said that Russia was upping the pressure in the fight for Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region, and that Kyiv’s forces were outnumbered and outgunned.
“The enemy is intensifying pressure in the Bakhmut and Vuhledar sectors. Now in Donbas, against their superior number of soldiers and weapons, we have the advantage of professional military command and the courage of soldiers,” Ukraine’s Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar said in a statement.
- 25 Jan 2023 - 20:29(20:29 GMT)
UNESCO designates Odesa historic centre World Heritage in Danger site
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has said it designated the historic centre of Odesa, a strategic port on Ukraine’s Black Sea coast, a World Heritage in Danger site.
The status is designed to help protect Odesa’s cultural heritage, which has been under threat since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and enable access to financial and technical international aid.
Odesa has been bombed several times by Russia since its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
In July 2022, part of the large glass roof and windows of the Odesa Fine Arts Museum, inaugurated in 1899, were destroyed.
- 25 Jan 2023 - 20:23(20:23 GMT)
Russia’s oldest human rights organisation closed down by court order
Russia’s oldest human rights organisation, the Moscow Helsinki Group, has been liquidated after a court ruled it did not have the correct registration, the latest in a series of closures that critics say is reminiscent of the Soviet era.
Founded in 1976 by Soviet dissident scientists, the group produced annual reports on Russia’s human rights situation and was one of the country’s few remaining independent rights organisations after the closure of Nobel Prize-winner Memorial in 2021.
Its original aim was to monitor the Soviet Union’s compliance with the Helsinki Accords, an East-West agreement aimed at easing tensions at the height of the Cold war, but it later expanded to advocate for democracy and civil rights.
Russia’s Ministry of Justice filed a lawsuit against the group in December, arguing that it was only registered to defend human rights in Moscow – not other parts of the country – an argument that the group called nonsensical.
- 25 Jan 2023 - 20:11(20:11 GMT)
European rights court says it can hear cases brought by Ukraine against Russia
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has said it can hear cases brought by Ukraine and the Netherlands against Russia over alleged human rights violations in the breakaway Luhansk and Donetsk regions of Ukraine, and the shooting down of Flight MH17.
The decision does not rule on the merits of the cases, but it does show the Strasbourg-based court considers Russia can be held liable for rights violations in the separatist regions.
“Among other things, the Court found that areas in eastern Ukraine in separatist hands were, from 11 May 2014 and up to at least 26 January 2022, under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation,” the court said in a ruling on Wednesday.
The cases will now move on to the merits stage, expected to take another one to two years before a final decision is issued.
The impact of any ruling will be largely political as Russia’s parliament in June voted to end the ECHR’s jurisdiction in the country and has previously ignored ECHR rulings it disagreed with.
The court says it has jurisdiction in cases already started before Moscow’s withdrawal from the ECHR’s writ, and Russia could be ordered to pay damages, but the court has no way to enforce its rulings.
- 25 Jan 2023 - 19:39(19:39 GMT)
Germany’s decision to provide tanks prompts Ukrainian calls for more heavy armour
Germany’s announcement that it will provide 14 Leopard tanks to Ukraine has prompted calls for more heavy armour.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his ministers are also seeking to break a “taboo” on the provision of jets such as United Staes-made F-16s.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he had spoken to Poland’s Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau about further military aid, including fighter jets – a request that has been repeatedly put to NATO allies without success.
- 25 Jan 2023 - 19:19(19:19 GMT)
IOC: Russian athletes could participate in Asian competitions
Russian and Belarusian athletes could participate in Asian events, with the International Olympic Committee looking at options for their return to international competitions.
“No athlete should be prevented from competing just because of their passport,” the IOC said in a news release Wednesday.
In addition, the IOC “welcomed and appreciated” the Olympic Council of Asia’s offer to accept Russian and Belarusian athletes into qualifying events for Paris 2024.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, many sport bodies have moved events and suspended Russian teams or athletes while sponsors ended contracts in protest against the war.
- 25 Jan 2023 - 19:01(19:01 GMT)
Sweden does not ‘exclude’ sending Leopard tanks to Ukraine
Sweden’s defence minister has said he does not “exclude” Stockholm sending Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, after Germany gave the green light for them to be given to Kyiv.
Following weeks of pressure from Ukraine and other allies, Berlin finally agreed to send 14 Leopard 2 tanks, seen as among the best in the world.
The move opened the way for other European nations that operate Leopards to send tanks from their own fleets to Ukraine.
“I don’t exclude the possibility that we can do that in the future, working with other countries,” Defence Minister Pal Jonson told AFP in an interview.
“We could possibly contribute in various ways. It could be related to logistics, maintenance, training, but also tanks as such.”
Sweden, which has broken with its doctrine of not delivering weapons to a country at war, last week pledged a major package of arms for Ukraine, including modern howitzers and armoured vehicles.
- 25 Jan 2023 - 18:50(18:50 GMT)
Zelenskyy hails Washington’s decision on Abrams tanks
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed Washington’s decision on Abrams tanks as an “important step on the path to victory”, while also thanking Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz for the Leopards.
He tweeted, “Today the free world is united as never before for a common goal”, which he described as the liberation of Ukraine.
Thank you @POTUS for another powerful decision to provide Abrams to 🇺🇦. Grateful to 🇺🇸 people for leadership support! It's an important step on the path to victory. Today the free world is united as never before for a common goal – liberation of 🇺🇦. We're moving forward
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) January 25, 2023
- 25 Jan 2023 - 18:01(18:01 GMT)
Biden’s Abrams tank decision is policy reversal: AJ correspondent
President Biden’s decision to send Abrams tanks to Ukraine is a policy reversal “given the fact that his own Pentagon generals were somewhat resistant to sending these tanks because they are cumbersome and that this is an older technology”, Kimberly Halkett, Al Jazeera’s White House correspondent reports.
“Abrams tanks were designed back in the ’70s and although they have been upgraded, they operate on jet fuel. So there’s a tremendous amount of logistics involved in facilitating these on the battlefield. It won’t be happening quickly,” she said.
- 25 Jan 2023 - 17:53(17:53 GMT)
UK Prime Minister Sunak: There is an opportunity to speed up global efforts to support Ukraine
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said there was a window of opportunity for international partners to speed up efforts to support Ukraine in its conflict against Russia.
“The prime minister said it was now clear Russia was on the back foot, and there was a window for international partners to accelerate efforts to secure lasting peace for Ukraine,” Sunak’s office said in a statement after he spoke to the leaders of the United States, Germany, France and Italy.
“All the leaders welcomed the strong coordination of military supplies and reflected on the collective international action across the spectrum in support of Ukraine.
- 25 Jan 2023 - 17:28(17:28 GMT)
Biden affirms Abram tanks move is not offensive threat to Russia: AJ correspondent
President Biden has made it clear that sending Abram tanks to Ukraine is not an offensive threat to Russia, Kimberly Halkett, Al Jazeera’s White House correspondent reports.
“This is more of a signal to Americans here in the US who might be worried about ‘mission creep’ if you will. Russia is a nuclear power and there are many Americans who are worried about the escalation and the impact this might have,” Halkett said, reporting from Washington, DC.
“The US president is speaking as much to the world as he is to a domestic audience when he said this is about protecting Ukraine,” she added.
- 25 Jan 2023 - 17:08(17:08 GMT)
Biden: US to send 31 Abram tanks to Ukraine
President Joe Biden has announced that the US will be sending 31 Abram tanks to Ukraine.
Speaking at the White House, he said, “I’m announcing that the United States will be sending 31 Abram tanks to Ukraine the equivalent of one Ukrainian battalion.
Secretary Austin has recommended this step because it all enhance Ukraine’s capacity to defend his territory to achieve strategic objectives.”
Biden also said Washington was giving Ukraine the necessary parts and equipment, and will be providing Ukrainian personnel with training.
- 25 Jan 2023 - 16:44(16:44 GMT)
Biden speaks to European allies over Ukraine support
US President Joe Biden spoke with European allies about supporting Ukraine, the White House said.
Biden discussed “our close coordination on support for Ukraine” with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
- 25 Jan 2023 - 16:17(16:17 GMT)
Slovakia is ready to send 30 T-72 tanks to Ukraine, says minister
Slovakia is ready to send 30 T-72 tanks to Ukraine “immediately” if it can receive Western tanks to replace them, defence minister Jaroslav Nad said.
Nad told a briefing that Slovakia had sent 30 Soviet-era BVP-1 infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine last year after agreeing that Germany would deliver 15 Leopard 2 tanks to Slovakia to take their place.
“We still have 30 T-72 tanks and would be ready to send them immediately to Ukraine, even tomorrow, if there would be an option to receive Western tanks – Leopards or any other in exchange,” Nad said.
“There is no space for decrease in Slovakia, but there is space for exchange,” he said.
- 25 Jan 2023 - 15:50(15:50 GMT)
‘Bitter fighting’ shows why Ukraine needs tanks: AJ correspondent
Al Jazeera’s Natacha Butler, reporting from Kyiv, says Ukraine desperately needs German-built Leopard 2 tanks because intense fighting continues in the east of the country.
“Just today, Ukrainian military officials confirmed that they have had to withdraw their forces from the eastern town of Soledar,” Butler said. “That has been the location of months of really terrible, bitter fighting [and] high casualties on both sides.”
Butler explained that Ukrainian forces are still in a fierce battle in the nearby city of Bakhmut as Russia launches “new smaller offensives and also continues shelling [in] several regions”.
“So all of this paints a picture of what the sobering reality really is on the ground and why Ukraine says it needs all these heavy weapons so urgently,” she said.
- 25 Jan 2023 - 15:31(15:31 GMT)
Germany plans to send more weapons beyond tanks
Chancellor Olaf Scholz says Germany plans to send further military support to Ukraine beyond the delivery of 14 Leopard 2 battle tanks.
“Alongside the tanks that are being discussed now, we continue to intend to expand what we have delivered,” Scholz said at a news conference in Berlin with Iceland’s prime minister, Katrin Jakobsdottir.
He listed air defence systems, heavy artillery and multiple rocket launchers as possible future arms deliveries.
- 25 Jan 2023 - 15:15(15:15 GMT)
UNESCO says World Heritage Site of central Odesa in danger
UNESCO has designated the historic centre of Odesa a World Heritage Site in danger.
The UN’s cultural agency hopes the status, awarded by a panel that met in Paris, will help protect Odesa’s cultural heritage and enable access to international aid.
Russia has bombed Odesa several times since it invaded Ukraine on February 24, and in July, part of the large glass roof and windows of Odesa’s Museum of Fine Arts, which opened in 1899, were destroyed.
- 25 Jan 2023 - 14:41(14:41 GMT)
Biden to deliver speech on Ukraine
US President Joe Biden is scheduled to make a speech on continued US support to Ukraine at midday (17:00 GMT), the White House says.
The White House did not elaborate, but the announcement follows Germany’s approval for sending Ukraine its Leopard 2 tanks after weeks of pressure from Kyiv.
On Tuesday, a US government source told Al Jazeera that Washington is also expected to send dozens of its M1 Abrams battle tanks, reversing its previous position.
- 25 Jan 2023 - 14:17(14:17 GMT)
Germany’s decision signals ‘pre-planned war’ against Russia: Foreign ministry
Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova says Germany’s decision to supply tanks to Ukraine confirms a “pre-planned war” against Moscow.
For months Kyiv has asked for Western tanks that it desperately needs to give its forces the ability to break through Russian defensive lines and recapture occupied territory in the east and south.
- 25 Jan 2023 - 13:50(13:50 GMT)
Germany’s approval is ‘very good news’ for Kyiv: AJ correspondent
Al Jazeera’s Natacha Butler, reporting from Kyiv, said that Germany’s approval to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine is “clearly very good news”.
“For Ukraine, they have been waiting for this decision from the Germans for many weeks now … we’ve heard reactions from Ukraine’s defence minister also from a top presidential aide saying this is a very good first step,” Butler said.
Butler explains that Zelenskyy has made it clear that they need not 10 -15 tanks but “at least 300 tanks” to help them defeat Russian forces on the ground.
“There is also a real question of time,” she added.
“[This is] a big challenge for Ukrainians because once they receive these, that are already taking some time, you have to have soldiers who are going to be trained on them and also trained on how to maintain them and every day that passes is absolutely crucial.”
- 25 Jan 2023 - 13:27(13:27 GMT)
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 336
Click here for a roundup of the war’s pivotal events from day 336.
KEEP READING
- 25 Jan 2023 - 13:03(13:03 GMT)
Who controls what?
Here are four maps we update daily, charting the latest developments in the war.
- 25 Jan 2023 - 12:44(12:44 GMT)
Turkey, IAEA chief discuss situation in Ukraine
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency have discussed developments in Ukraine.
According to Turkish diplomatic sources, Cavusoglu and Rafael Grossi exchanged views in a phone call on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is currently under Russian control.
Fears of a nuclear catastrophe persist as shelling around the plant is reported.
Turkey has repeatedly called on Kyiv and Moscow to end the war through negotiations and has offered to mediate.
- 25 Jan 2023 - 12:19(12:19 GMT)
Finland says it will join coalition sending tanks
Finland’s defence minister Mikko Savola says Finland will participate in the group of countries sending tanks to Ukraine, although the contribution would be limited in scope.
“The international cooperation to send Leopards to Ukraine is advancing now and Finland will participate in that,” Savola told reporters.
He declined to comment further on the size of Finland’s contribution.
- 25 Jan 2023 - 12:05(12:05 GMT)
Germany abandoning ‘historical responsibility to Russia’: Russian embassy
The Russian embassy in Germany says Berlin’s decision to approve the delivery of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine means it is abandoning its “historical responsibility to Russia” arising from Nazi crimes during World War II.
The embassy said in a statement that the decision would escalate the conflict to a new level.
“This extremely dangerous decision takes the conflict to a new level of confrontation and contradicts the statements of German politicians about the unwillingness of the Federal Republic of Germany to be drawn into it,” Ambassador Sergey Nechayev said.
Russia-Ukraine updates: US to send 31 Abrams tanks to Kyiv
All the updates from January 25, as they happened.
This blog is now closed, thanks for joining us. These were the updates on the Russia-Ukraine war on Wednesday, January 25.
- The United States will send 31 M1 Abrams battle tanks to Ukraine, reversing months of persistent arguments that they were too difficult for Ukrainian troops to operate and maintain.
- The US decision comes on the heels of Germany agreeing to send 14 Leopard 2 A6 tanks from its own stocks.
- Russia says Western tanks in Ukraine will “burn”.
- Almost two weeks after Russia claimed Soledar had been captured, Ukraine says its forces have withdrawn from the eastern town.
Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies